History

The first Friendship Radiosport Games were held in 1989 in Khabarovsk, Russia, which was then still a part of the Soviet Union. The games were organized as a result of the signing of a sister city agreement between the Siberian city of Khabarovsk and the city of Portland, Oregon, on the west coast of the United States. The origination of the idea for a friendly radiosport competition between the two cities can be credited to Yevgeny Stavitsky UAØCA, an active amateur radio operator in Khabarovsk. Participants from Portland traveled to Siberia to participate in the games, an event that would not have been possible only a few years before, as the two nations squared off against one another in the Cold War. In 1991, the second Friendship Radiosport Games were held in Portland, hosted by the Friendship Amateur Radio Society, and participants from Khabarovsk traveled to Oregon to attend the event. This would start a tradition of holding the event in August of every odd-numbered year.